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BURIAL- WINDLASS. No. 291,760. 72/ Patented Jan. 8, 1884..

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UNITED STATES Trice.

PATENT JOHN P. MCDONALD, or IIITOHFIELD, ILLINoIs, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND ELIJAH BENJAMIN JORDAN, or SAME PLACE.

BURIAL-WINDLASIS.

srncrrreerron forming part of Letters Patent No. 291,760, dated January 8, 1884.

Application filed November 13,1853. (X0 model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN P. MCDONALD, of Litchfield, in the county of Montgomery and State of Illinois, have invented a new and Improved Burial-\Vindlass, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention consists of an improved windlass contrivance for lowering coffins for burial, in which an arch-frame is arranged to span the grave from end to end, and havinga drum in the crown of the arch, from which cords winding on the upper and lower sides, respectively, extend over guide-rollers in the sides of the arch and suspend selfdetaching grapplingtongs, by which the coffin is to be suspended at the ends to be lowered, and which disconnect automatically when the coffin rests on the bottom of the grave and the hooks are relieved of the stress of the weight, making a simple and efficient means of safely and easily lowering coffins, all as hereinafter fully described.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in

which similar lettersof reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is partly a side elevation and partly a sectional elevation of my improved burialwindlass. a side view of the grapple-tongs.

I make a strong bench, a, of longer and wider dimensions than the horizontal dimensions of a grave of largest size, with four legs, Z), of suitable height,which I prefer to pivot to the frame of the bench at 0, so as to fold up against the sides of frame a when being carried about or stored away, and be secured by thumbscrews (1 at d, with skids 6 attached to the under side of the cross-bars f of the frame, under the side bars, to which said legs may be conneeted by said thumb-screws, to stay them when set upright for supporting the bench in position for use. 011 the top of the bench I arrange an arch-shaped frame of two parallel beams, g, spanning the frame from end to end, and suitably connected thereto at the ends, and at the crown of this arch I arrange a ropedrum, it, having a crank, I, for turning it, and also having cordsj extending each. way from its respective sides along the arch and over Fig. 2 is a plan view, and Fig. 3 is the weight tends to causethe hooks of the tongs to grip the weight more firmly, as such devices are commonly made, in which hooks the board 7;, on which the coffin is to be placed, is suspended, to be lowered to the bottom of the grave by the drum h.

For disconnecting the hooks when the coffin has come to rest on the bottom of the grave, I arrange a bar, m, from one to the other and through the bars of the hooks above the points with springs or on the bar and between the hooks and the stop-pins 0, by which said springs are compressed when the hooks are closed on the board. The hooks are then se= cured by pins p until the coffin is ready to be lowered. The pins are then to be shifted to other holes in the bar sufficiently distant from the hooks to allow them to escape from the board by the pressure of the springs when relieved of the stress of the weight of the coffin, to disconnect the hooks and allow them to be raised.

I make a series of bearings, q, in the arch along its sides, in which the rollers k can be shifted from one position to another, according to the length of the grave. f

I prefer to wind the cords 7' one or more turns around the rollers k in a groove in each roller, the sides of which groove will press the coils of the cords together and cause considerable friction that will lessen the labor of lowering the coffin materially. The archbeams are braced by struts 8, supported on bench a, and extending up to the crown of the arch.

The grappling-tongs consist of crossed hookbars pivoted together at t, and having eyes at the upper end, through which the cord extends from one to the other, and connects to itself at a, forming a loop that draws the bars of the tongs and causes the hook-points to grip the load by the effect of the weight of the same.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The improved burial-Windlass, consisting 4. The combination, in a burial-Windlass, of the bench a, legs I), skids e, thumb-screws d, arch 1 5 g, cranked drum h, cords j, guide-rollers k, and the grappling tongs Z, substantially as described.

5. The combination of the bar m, having pins 0, springs n, pins 19, and a series of holes for 20 said pins 1;,Witl1 the grappling-tongs, substan tially as described.

JOHN P. MCDONALD.

Witnesses:

GEO. D. FINK, M. GRUBBS. 

